Sometimes, timing is everything, and sometimes it really isn’t. This week, there are two debuts which battled for the top spot, and they both basically came out of nowhere. At first, Romanian dance-pop queen Inna released her new single “Nirvana” quite out of the blue alongside the announcement of a new upcoming album with the same name. The track came out a week ago and was on heavy rotation on the first day, and still got played a lot the day afterwards, however, also out of the blue, US violinist Lindsey Stirling has released a third video for her “Warmer In The Winter” project, and she did it for the song “Carol Of The Bells”, one of the highlights on the album. Lindsey has released her video on Friday, and ever since, the track got also played a lot, and both songs went on a head-to-head race for this weeks top spot. At first it was quite clear to see Inna scoring her third #1 of her career, but in the end it’s Lindsey who won, as “Carol Of The Bells” debuts at #1. It’s her 11th number one song and 20th chart entry overall, with all of them being Top3 hits and being released within the last five years, making her one of the most successful artists ever on my charts. It’s a good week for Lindsey overall, as her “Christmas C’mon” spends a second week in the Top3 (2-3), while “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” jumps 37-18. Both tracks peaked at #2, so “Carol Of The Bells” is her first number one single of “Warmer In The Winter”, making it her third album to score at least one top hit.

Therefore, Inna’s “Nirvana” makes its debut at #2. Over the last seven and a half years, the singer has collected 16 chart entries, with all of them peaking inside the weekly Top10, and two of them even becoming number one hits with “More Than Friends” (2013) and “Heaven” (2016). When it comes to plays, it’s worth a mention that “Carol Of The Bells” got nearly 70 plays in the last week, while “Nirvana” has a little bit over 50 plays.

Apart from the Top2, there are another four new arrivals in the Top40 this week. German Schlager-pop-princess Vanessa Mai has chosen the third single of her second solo album “Regenbogen”, and it’s the title track. While the first two singles weren’t big hits, she’s getting her third Top20 entry overall now with “Regenbogen” debuting at #12. Martin Garrix has teamed up with David Guetta, Jamie Scott and Romy Dya on “So Far Away”, which enters the charts at #23. It’s the very first notation for the latter two. While “Crybaby” peaked at a disappointing #35, follow-up single “Guilty” immediately does slightly better for Paloma Faith, as it arrives at #33. Last but not least, former One Directioner Louis Tomlinson is new at #37 with “Miss You”, his third chart entry following “Back To You” (#20) and “Just Like You” (#39). While he has as many entries as Liam Payne and Niall Horan have, which are two more than Harry Styles and one less than Zayn, Louis still remains the least successful One Directioner so far. Liam is the most successful one (mainly thanks to Zedd’s “Get Low”), followed by Niall, Zayn and then Harry.

The rest of the best: The Dark Element’s “The Ghost And The Reaper” falls 1-4, while their “Dead To Me” drops 3-9. The latter is going Gold this week as already their third song to do so, with “The Ghost And The Reaper” being a very much likely fourth candidate for a certification soon. With Christmas coming nearer, Tarja rises back into the Top10 with “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (15-5), while her second single “O Tannenbaum” is also rising a lot this week (25-14). Clean Bandit and Julia Michael’s “I Miss You” stays at #6, followed by My Indigo’s “My Indigo” (5-7) and the newly Gold certified “Anywhere” by Rita Ora (4-8). Noah Cyrus closes the Top10 as “Again” goes down 7-10.

Marina Kaye’s “Something” has to leave the Top10 for its very first time (8-11), Taylor Swift’s “…Ready For It?” (9-13) and Rachel Platten’s “Perfect For You” (10-16) have to leave that part as well. A few spots below are two interesting climbers, as Aly & AJ reach a new peak for “Take Me” in their fourth charting week (36-25), while Alan Walker & Co’s “All Falls Down” re-peaks by climbing 31-26. Apart from the already mentioned certifications for “Anywhere” and “Dead To Me”, there’s also a third one, as Zara Larsson’s “Only You” goes Platinum this week (32-34).

Lindsey Stirling’s “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” is the biggest climber, while Emmelie De Forest’s “Sanctuary” tumbles down 16-39 as the obvious biggest loser this week.

While the Top2 on the Singles Top40 is completely new, it looked like the Top2 on the Album Top20 would remain exactly the same for a third week in a row at first, however, a certain violinist made a last minute change. Following the release of “Carol Of The Bells” and the hype around it, Lindsey Stirling’s “Warmer In The Winter” rises 10-1 for a second non-consecutive week at number one. She prevents The Dark Element a fourth week atop the charts for their “The Dark Element”, which dips 1-2 now, followed by Tarja’s “From Spirits And Ghosts”, which goes down one spot as well (2-3).

There’s just one new entry, and that’s the second volume of Chris Stapleton’s “From A Room”. Like the first one earlier this year, the second edition also arrives at #8. The rest of the Top10 is quite stable: Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” dips 3-4 followed by Loreen’s “Ride” (4-5), Halsey’s “hopeless fountain kingdom” goes up 8-6, Rachel Platten’s “Waves” drops 5-7 and goes Gold this week, Evanescence’ “Synthesis” is down 6-9 while Marina Kaye’s “Explicit” closes the Top10 (7-10).

Apart from Chris Stapleton’s new entry, there’s also a re-entry just outside the Top10 with “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” by Gwen Stefani. With its return to #11 it even surpasses its debut position of #13 from a few weeks ago. Aly & AJ and Paloma Faith both didn’t have a good debut with their releases, and both already dropped a few spots last week, but now both of them are surprisingly recovering a bit, with Aly & AJ’s “Ten Years” EP going up 14-13 and Paloma Faith’s “The Architect” climbing 17-14. Climbers usually mean there are also some fallers, and Björk is one of them, as her “Utopia” already falls 9-18 in its second week. Meanwhile, Rachel’s album isn’t the only one with a new certification, as P!nk’s “Beautiful Trauma” goes Gold as well as her first album ever to get a certification (11-12), while Anette Olzon’s “Shine” gets certified with 7x Platinum (15-19).

Tansike wrote:That was a good read and I actually get all of your thoughts. It’s really similar with me, except probably the part about X/Y. I enjoyed them, but everything after HGSS didn’t click with me as much as the games used to do. I even left out White/Black completely (but I bought one of the re-releases, so there’s at least that). I think I even prefer Sun/Moon to X/Y now. Maybe I should replay X/Y one day to get that feeling back. I still remember how underwhelmed I was by the new design as I really missed that ‘old’ feeling I always got through Pokémon, the whole 3D thing didn’t really work, while it works much better with Sun/Moon IMO.

If that’s pretty slowly for you, then I have no idea what my progress is, because I only arrived in the first city and beat the first island champion (not his task though) (btw – sorry, while i usually know some English stuff when it comes to Pokémon, I’m completely clueless when it comes to USUM, so I’m just using things like ‘first city’ or ‘first island champion’ instead of their names ) I don’t have a proper team yet. An obvious Rowlet, and I caught a Pichu too as I fell in love with it when it appeared and it already got quite a few level ups… however, yesterday, I only realized that I already had an Alola Raichu in my Team when I played Sun, so I’m not sure if this will stay. Steenee sounds like a nice addition – and yeah, I get that with over-levelling your Team. I mean, even with EXP share on it’s already quite easy to get over-levelled, so I don’t want to imagine how it is with all Pokémon being traded Oh you got both? Damn… yeah, a shame they didn’t do something completely new (like ‘Star’ edition, so something à la Emerald or Crystal). Would have been a much better thing for people like you who bought both.

I don’t know. HGSS were sooo good and as I said, the third Generations were my favorite ones, so my expectations on ORAS were probably simply too high. It was nice, but it didn’t add much, plus the new design wasn’t that outstanding either.Another thing that may have been a reason why I wasn’t the biggest fan of them may be that I wasn’t really into Pokémon at that time…

I really need to think about if I should do something like this as well… an Alola Vulpix or Sandan would be really great…

At the time, I thought the idea of only allowing players to use the new Gen V Pokémon in BW was an interesting way to shake up the pattern they'd fallen into with each new Gen...but when I look at those games now, I think that choice does hurt them a bit, since I just don't feel THAT strongly about a lot of the Gen V Pokémon, and if I don't feel attached to my team, I'm not going to enjoy the journey as much. B2W2 made a LOT of positive changes, though, and it's kind of a bummer that USUM didn't offer nearly as much in terms of new areas/content (even if they're not sequels.) Ha, yeah, the style/look of Gen VII's 3D is definitely miles ahead of Gen VI, but I still think Gen VI looked pretty good, especially for the very first 3D Pokémon titles. Kalos is just so diverse: from HUGE cities like Lumiose, to rocky mountain paths, to those gorgeous autumnal Routes, to snowy moutains, lush forests, etc. Alola does look even better (and the character models have come a long way in terms of realism), but I think the fact that it's all tropical/beach-y makes it a little less interesting for me. A lot of the Routes in Alola are really short and look really similar too.

Ha, sorry! I hope my slow comment didn't seem judgey at all I actually think playing as slowly as you want makes more sense, but it seems like so many players I see commenting online rush through the game as quickly as possible in order to do post-game stuff (or just move right along to a different new game.) I figure the whole point of buying these games is to savor and enjoy the experience as much as possible. I just finished Sophocles's/Chrys's Trial the other day, so I'm making my way to Acerola/Lola's now (but that definitely won't happen today.) Yeah, considering how few big changes they made between SM and USUM, I really don't see why they needed to be two separate versions. They either should've been combined into one definitive third version (Stars/Prism/whatever) or added more new content and changed up the story more (like B2W2.)

Ah, that's totally fair. HGSS did set the bar pretty high for remakes, and I agree that ORAS didn't quite match that standard. I still enjoyed them, but HGSS definitely did a better job of incorporating Crystal elements than ORAS did with Emerald, and also added more brand-new features (like the Pokéathlon, and Routes/areas that didn't appear at all in GSC.)

Or both Alolan Sandshrew/Sandan has been especially useful with its nifty Ice/Steel-typing, and it learns a nice variety of TMs and Move Tutor moves too! Thanks to Poke Pelago, you can get Ice Stones much earlier than you would find them in the overworld (which I think isn't until Po Town/Po'u...?)

Tansike wrote:Ah I get that. At least it’s better than these two you mentioned… I’m probably in the minority but I would love to see “Pendulum” getting a single treatment…

I'm pretty sure you've mentioned your love for "Pendulum" before, and I don't think it's crazy at all! It might not be AS obvious a single choice as something like "Roulette", but I don't think it's too far behind either! Catchy, poppy, fun.

Tansike wrote:The bolded part is how I feel as well. To be fair, he was my first love relationship, so it’s the first time I have to figure out what is the best for me – to keep in touch with him or no. And while all feelings are gone for good, I also feel like I don’t even have the need to see him for a drink or so.

**Nod** Makes sense. It's one thing to avoid burning bridges, but I also don't think it's necessary to try to force a former romantic relationship to endure as a friendship. I get that people see it as a sign of maturity or whatever, but sometimes it's really just not worth the stress/pain/hassle. If it's convenient and makes sense to keep them as a friend, great, but if it's gonna require a lot of time, effort, and potential pain, why not spend that time with people whose company you actually naturally enjoy? You've got my support either way, of course <3 Well, as long as you don't decide to murder him...

Tansike wrote:Well to be fair, “…Ready For It?” is already quite old, except its video. I think that whole second single release was messy as f. Releasing another song only a week after LWYMMD came out was a wrong choice, and then releasing the video for it sooo late was another wrong choice. Anyways, I hope they get back on track now with a good treatment for “End Game”, hopefully “Delicate” as a single for summer 2018 and then something slower like “Call It What You Want” or so for winter 2018…

Yeah, I do forget how old it must feel for most people, since I didn't have it in my library until I bought reputation. It was like Ed's "Shape Of You"/"Castle On The Hill" situation, but much messier Ed's seemed like a planned dual-lead-single strategy from the start, but I thought "...Ready For It?" was just one of those iTunes pre-release singles (though it was still odd to release it so soon after LWYMMD)...but then radio started picking it up, and it got an official video...only for them to switch gears to "End Game" not long after. SMH. I love your vision for the rest of the era, though!

Tansike wrote:Anyways, the ‘problem’ with rushing ahead to check out something new is a real problem I have too, especially during busy times like it is right now with so many new releases. Back when I only checked albums out when I owned them physically I obviously had much less to check out, so I discovered much less, however I was able to get much more into releases than I do these days…

**Nod** Yeah, it's a balance I'm still figuring out. I decided not to add anything this past Friday because I've seen been enjoying Dua Lipa so much (which I added the week before.)

Tansike wrote:Wow, how did she do that? I know she’s in the Top10 on iTunes, but only something around #30 on Spotify, which is why I was quite sure #14 would remain her peak. Now I REALLY hope it gets into the Top10, not only because that would be awesome, but also because #11 is an awful peak position

You wished it into reality! Officially No. 8 now, and her first US Top 10 as the lead artist I still don't quite get it It just doesn't sound like a smash to me...but more power to her!

Tansike wrote:As for the Christmas #1 question – that’s a good question and I didn’t even know it by myself, so I just looked it up, and here’s the result:2016: #1 was Kerli’s “Spirit Animal”, highest Christmas entry was Mariah’s AIWFCIY (#2)2015: #1 was Jamie-Lee Kriewitz’ “Ghost”, highest Xmas entry was Lindsey Stirling’s “Hallelujah” (#2)2014: #1 was Within Temptation’s “Edge Of The World”, highest Xmas entry was Ariana’s “Love Is Everything” (#2)2013: #1 was WT’s “Dangerous”, highest Xmas entry was Ariana’s “Love Is Everything” (#2)2012: #1 was Taylor’s IKYWT, no Xmas entry (just a Top20 back then)So… #1 usually goes to a ‘normal’ song, while Christmas entries stopped at #2, which is actually a surprise to me now

Many thanks for doing all that research, and that's a really interesting pattern! I'm not TOO shocked that "normal" songs tend to win out (since it's usually been the same on my chart, I think), but it's pretty funny that the Xmas stuff gets SO close here and falls just short of the top. Could 2017 finally break that pattern? We've got Tarja, Lindsey, Sia, Gwen...

Tansike wrote:Oh… I haven’t even checked the Beyoncé version out so far and right now I’m also not interested in doing so So, no effect is to be expected

Not even worth a single listen? Wait, I'm starting to see a pattern here: you never checked out "Despacito"...or "Rockstar"...or "Perfect (Duet)." Do you deliberately avoid US+UK No. 1's???

• Ha, slightly bummed that "Christmas C'mon" couldn't make it, but at least Lindsey got to the top one way or another! Unless she replaces herself on your next chart...? Any rate, I'm typically more drawn to her tracks with a vocalist, but her skills are really well-suited to this classic!• I'd noticed people joking about how they'd never actually want to see James Arthur naked, but even though he's FAR from the fittest celebrity out there, I'm pretty much always at least a little curious to know what's going on under guys' clothes I mean, as long as they're not super young, super old, or a relative... • I'd already briefly popped in here after seeing your comment about "Guilty" over in my thread, but its debut is still beautiful to behold! Feel free to say "no" if my constant asking for this is becoming a hassle, but could I see Paloma's history here? • Well...no new peak for reputation, but at least it didn't fall far!

phoenix98 wrote:At the time, I thought the idea of only allowing players to use the new Gen V Pokémon in BW was an interesting way to shake up the pattern they'd fallen into with each new Gen...but when I look at those games now, I think that choice does hurt them a bit, since I just don't feel THAT strongly about a lot of the Gen V Pokémon, and if I don't feel attached to my team, I'm not going to enjoy the journey as much. B2W2 made a LOT of positive changes, though, and it's kind of a bummer that USUM didn't offer nearly as much in terms of new areas/content (even if they're not sequels.) Ha, yeah, the style/look of Gen VII's 3D is definitely miles ahead of Gen VI, but I still think Gen VI looked pretty good, especially for the very first 3D Pokémon titles. Kalos is just so diverse: from HUGE cities like Lumiose, to rocky mountain paths, to those gorgeous autumnal Routes, to snowy moutains, lush forests, etc. Alola does look even better (and the character models have come a long way in terms of realism), but I think the fact that it's all tropical/beach-y makes it a little less interesting for me. A lot of the Routes in Alola are really short and look really similar too.

Ha, sorry! I hope my slow comment didn't seem judgey at all I actually think playing as slowly as you want makes more sense, but it seems like so many players I see commenting online rush through the game as quickly as possible in order to do post-game stuff (or just move right along to a different new game.) I figure the whole point of buying these games is to savor and enjoy the experience as much as possible. I just finished Sophocles's/Chrys's Trial the other day, so I'm making my way to Acerola/Lola's now (but that definitely won't happen today.) Yeah, considering how few big changes they made between SM and USUM, I really don't see why they needed to be two separate versions. They either should've been combined into one definitive third version (Stars/Prism/whatever) or added more new content and changed up the story more (like B2W2.)

Ah, that's totally fair. HGSS did set the bar pretty high for remakes, and I agree that ORAS didn't quite match that standard. I still enjoyed them, but HGSS definitely did a better job of incorporating Crystal elements than ORAS did with Emerald, and also added more brand-new features (like the Pokéathlon, and Routes/areas that didn't appear at all in GSC.)

Or both Alolan Sandshrew/Sandan has been especially useful with its nifty Ice/Steel-typing, and it learns a nice variety of TMs and Move Tutor moves too! Thanks to Poke Pelago, you can get Ice Stones much earlier than you would find them in the overworld (which I think isn't until Po Town/Po'u...?)

Well, since I skipped them, I can’t really judge. Okay, I played the re-issue, and from what I remember I actually enjoyed it more than I thought. There’s something like a battle tree (?) at the end iirc and I loved that. But apart from that, I barely remember something about that Generation, not even many Pokémon. I only remember which starter I had and that my favorite Pokémon was Sawsbuck… But to come back to what you said, I completely get you with being connected to the team or not and how it affects the journey.Hmm… Kalos definitely has some nice places to offer, especially the autumnal routes you mentioned, but other than that, I never liked it that much, especially the cities… Alola is sooo much better. I enjoy these small routes and that island vibe, however I wouldn’t mind if we’ll be back to an usual world in the next game, with all the varieties.

Oh no, sorry, It wasn’t meant that way. Also sorry if my comment seemed kinda aggressive or so, reading it now it could have sound a bit nicer That may be true, however, I just realized that I’m not feeling it as much as I used to do, and I don’t even mean USUM, but Pokémon overall. I played a little bit yesterday and lost the interest after less than 30 minutes, so no surprise I’m not faster playing it. But that already happened to S/M and to Pokémon Tekken as well. How many hours have you already played USUM? A new content would have been awesome. Something like a new island or so.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I also enjoyed them, I just expected a bit more from them.

Ha, I need to think about that True, it’s pretty easy to get Ice Stones. We’ll see. I think I’ll play a bit later today so maybe I’ll decide and most likely I’ll go with one of them at first. I still haven’t make up my mind about my ‘final’ team, everything’s still open, so there’s also still room to add even both of them

phoenix98 wrote:I'm pretty sure you've mentioned your love for "Pendulum" before, and I don't think it's crazy at all! It might not be AS obvious a single choice as something like "Roulette", but I don't think it's too far behind either! Catchy, poppy, fun.

Yeah, very catchy. Its melody is still stuck in my head, actually…

phoenix98 wrote:**Nod** Makes sense. It's one thing to avoid burning bridges, but I also don't think it's necessary to try to force a former romantic relationship to endure as a friendship. I get that people see it as a sign of maturity or whatever, but sometimes it's really just not worth the stress/pain/hassle. If it's convenient and makes sense to keep them as a friend, great, but if it's gonna require a lot of time, effort, and potential pain, why not spend that time with people whose company you actually naturally enjoy? You've got my support either way, of course <3 Well, as long as you don't decide to murder him...

Thank you! These are my thoughts as well. Some people are like it’s sooo mature to be able to be friends with the exes, however I think it’s also mature when you can say that it simply wouldn’t work for one or both of you. Thanks, sweet of you <3 and don’t worry, there are no plans of doing so, and it wouldn’t be worth it

phoenix98 wrote:Yeah, I do forget how old it must feel for most people, since I didn't have it in my library until I bought reputation. It was like Ed's "Shape Of You"/"Castle On The Hill" situation, but much messier Ed's seemed like a planned dual-lead-single strategy from the start, but I thought "...Ready For It?" was just one of those iTunes pre-release singles (though it was still odd to release it so soon after LWYMMD)...but then radio started picking it up, and it got an official video...only for them to switch gears to "End Game" not long after. SMH. I love your vision for the rest of the era, though!

Oh I forgot you didn’t listen to it for so long Good for you, I guess… I still remember the first time I heard it I was like because of the beat. I’m still baffled how messy her era started, I mean, it’s Taylor. Anyways, glad you like my vision for the rest of the era. The more time passes by, the less fan I am of “End Game” being the next single, so here’s hope the follow-up will be a better choice.

phoenix98 wrote:**Nod** Yeah, it's a balance I'm still figuring out. I decided not to add anything this past Friday because I've seen been enjoying Dua Lipa so much (which I added the week before.)

Good for Dua (but unlucky for others, I guess?). Are there still many albums left you’d like to check out?

phoenix98 wrote:You wished it into reality! Officially No. 8 now, and her first US Top 10 as the lead artist I still don't quite get it It just doesn't sound like a smash to me...but more power to her!

I mean, WOW! I’m like you, I thought this would flop because it wasn’t one of my faves on the album, but I’m sooo glad it went into the Top10 (and it also grew on me in the meantime). Now all I want is “Strangers” to be the next single and another hit for her, then I’m sooo happy (well, would have been happier with one or two Grammy nods but one can’t have everything I guess )

phoenix98 wrote:

Tansike wrote:As for the Christmas #1 question – that’s a good question and I didn’t even know it by myself, so I just looked it up, and here’s the result:2016: #1 was Kerli’s “Spirit Animal”, highest Christmas entry was Mariah’s AIWFCIY (#2)2015: #1 was Jamie-Lee Kriewitz’ “Ghost”, highest Xmas entry was Lindsey Stirling’s “Hallelujah” (#2)2014: #1 was Within Temptation’s “Edge Of The World”, highest Xmas entry was Ariana’s “Love Is Everything” (#2)2013: #1 was WT’s “Dangerous”, highest Xmas entry was Ariana’s “Love Is Everything” (#2)2012: #1 was Taylor’s IKYWT, no Xmas entry (just a Top20 back then)So… #1 usually goes to a ‘normal’ song, while Christmas entries stopped at #2, which is actually a surprise to me now

Many thanks for doing all that research, and that's a really interesting pattern! I'm not TOO shocked that "normal" songs tend to win out (since it's usually been the same on my chart, I think), but it's pretty funny that the Xmas stuff gets SO close here and falls just short of the top. Could 2017 finally break that pattern? We've got Tarja, Lindsey, Sia, Gwen...

You’re welcome, and as you know, I love doing researches like this as well, always very interesting to find things out about my own charts I wasn’t aware of. It is kinda funny how every year a Christmas track had to stop at #2. I think this year is already the first year ever with a Christmas song reaching the top spot (Tarja’s “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and Lindsey’s “Carol Of The Bells”), but the competition was often so incredibly strong (WT being my 2nd most favorite band ever, Kerli my absolute fave artist, Taylor’s IKYWT being simply awesome, Jamie-Lee being the winner of The Voice of Germany as my absolute fave on the show). So, it will be interesting to see if an actual Christmas track makes it to #1 during Christmas week as well. The chances are really big, as you say, with especially Tarja and Lindsey Stirling. Gwen could be a dark horse though…

phoenix98 wrote: Not even worth a single listen? Wait, I'm starting to see a pattern here: you never checked out "Despacito"...or "Rockstar"...or "Perfect (Duet)." Do you deliberately avoid US+UK No. 1's???

Nope And, well, there was a time when I knew EVERYTHING that’s in the charts, not only in Switzerland, but basically in all major countries with official charts. But the music in the charts has been kinda bad lately, so I checked them out much less. I think it’s definitely not too bad missing out “Despacito” and “Rockstar” in full, and I’m not a big fan of Queen B while I love the original “Perfect”, so that’s fine to me

phoenix98 wrote:• Ha, slightly bummed that "Christmas C'mon" couldn't make it, but at least Lindsey got to the top one way or another! Unless she replaces herself on your next chart...? Any rate, I'm typically more drawn to her tracks with a vocalist, but her skills are really well-suited to this classic!• I'd noticed people joking about how they'd never actually want to see James Arthur naked, but even though he's FAR from the fittest celebrity out there, I'm pretty much always at least a little curious to know what's going on under guys' clothes I mean, as long as they're not super young, super old, or a relative... • I'd already briefly popped in here after seeing your comment about "Guilty" over in my thread, but its debut is still beautiful to behold! Feel free to say "no" if my constant asking for this is becoming a hassle, but could I see Paloma's history here? • Well...no new peak for reputation, but at least it didn't fall far!

Yet another bellisima chart, Tansike!

Thanks for checking out the latest #1 – and I’m very happy to hear you enjoyed it! It’s her biggest hit in ages actually, as it reached the iTunes Top100 in the US earlier this week and is charting inside the Top200 for nearly two weeks now Anyways, as for your question, unfortunately, that’s VERY unlikely with another song having a shot at a #1 debut this week

I get what you mean my dear

Why would I want to say no there when I love to do that? Here it is, but attention, huge spoiler alert, as the new charts from tomorrow is already added.Unfortunately, not that much to show so far… I’m surprised by myself how “New York” never made my charts back in the days as I really liked it then.

A new peak for “Reputation” is very unlikely at the moment, but it’s holding on much better than “1989” did in its first few weeks (1-2-6-10-14-)

It’s this time of the year again and therefor it’s no surprise to see four Christmas tracks in the Top10 this week, with a further five entries lower on the charts. It is, however, quite a surprise that three of these four Christmas tracks in the Top10 are by the same artist, and that’s Lindsey Stirling. While “Carol Of The Bells” (1-2) and “Christmas C’mon” (3-3) still go strong, her “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” joins them with yet another big jump this week (18-5). The highest charting Christmas track is by another artist though and also this weeks highest new entry, as it comes in straight at number one. Following “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and “O Tannenbaum”, Tarja has chosen the third and final single of her Christmas album “From Spirits And Ghosts”, and that’s her rendition of “Feliz Navidad”. While she has released a video for the album version, which is just her singing the song, she also released a new version of the track on friday, which includes several artists from the rock genre, including Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Elize Ryd (Amaranthe), Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) and Doro Pesch. The entry atop the charts can be seen as an entry for both versions, I just won’t credit all 12 featured artists. And speaking of Tarja, her other two songs are still charting quite high too, with “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” taking a surprising dive (5-15) but going Gold and “O Tannenbaum” gaining a little bit (14-12).

Apart from Tarja, there are just two other new arrivals in the Top40 this week, and three re-entries. Charli XCX has the second highest debut, as she enters the charts at #14 with her new single “Out Of My Head”, which features Tove Lo and ALMA. It immediately becomes Charli’s highest charting track in nearly three years, and is the first track of her upcoming mixtape “Pop 2”, which comes out tomorrow. It also becomes Tove Lo’s tenth chart entry, while it’s only ALMA’s second, following her featuring on Felix Jaehn’s “Bonfire” (2016). Finally, Camila Cabello has the third and last entry of the week as she is new at #25 with “Never Be The Same”, the next single of her upcoming solo debut album “Camila” and the follow-up to the worldwide hit “Havana”. The three mentioned re-entries are all back due to Christmas, as that are “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” by Gwen Stefani (#28, new peak), “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande (#38) and “Hallelujah” by Pentatonix (#39).

The rest of the best: Inna’s “Nirvana” dips 2-4, The Dark Element’s “The Ghost And The Reaper” goes down 4-6, Clean Bandit’s “I Miss You” falls 6-8, followed by Rita Ora’s “Anywhere” (8-9) and My Indigo’s “My Indigo”, which closes the Top10 (7-10). There’s one last entry in the Top10, and that’s “Regenbogen” by Vanessa Mai. While the song debuted just outside the Top10 a week ago, it rises 12-7 to become her third Top10 hit following “Ich sterb für dich” (#3) and “Meilenweit” (#5).

It’s a busy week when it comes to new certifications, as five singles got certified this week, while two albums also have a new one. As mentioned, Tarja’s “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is one of them, but not the highest charting track of them all. Slightly above Tarja there’s Noah Cyrus, which slips 10-11 with “Again”, which already goes Platinum after only twelve weeks on the chart. The other certified songs are “…Ready For It?” by Taylor Swift (13-17), “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran (22-27) and “Imperfection” by Evanescence (27-31), all going Gold.

“Dead To Me” still remains The Dark Element’s only non-number one entry so far, however it still showed a great run in the Top10. However, this week, the track makes a surprisingly big drop (9-16). Also making a big move but in the other direction is Paloma Faith. While she just scored a new entry with “Guilty” a week ago, the song benefits a lot from being added to the weekly Top40 playlist and jumps 33-19, becoming her highest charting track in over three years. Aly & AJ are still climbing as well with “Take Me”, up 25-20 this time. With Rachel Platten’s “Perfect For You” (16-22) and The Dark Element’s “My Sweet Mystery” (20-23), two of the biggest songs of the year have to leave the upper half of the charts for the first time.

Paloma Faith’s “Guilty” is the biggest climber while Eluveitie’s “Rebirth” takes a dive (24-36) as the biggest loser this week.

The winter stays warm with Lindsey Stirling spending a third non-consecutive week atop the Album Top20 with her newly Gold certified “Warmer In The Winter”. While it’s currently a clear frontrunner when it comes to this years Christmas number one, there are two other Christmas albums which won’t give up without a fight. First there’s Tarja’s “From Spirits And Ghosts”, which came out a month ago and spent its full chartrun in the Top5 so far, down 3-4 this week. Second there’s Gwen Stefani’s surprise hit “You Make It Feel Like Christmas”. While the set first looked like a big flop, it has climbed a lot on the US charts lately, is rising in some other markets as well and also re-entered my charts a week ago, only to enter the Top10 this week for its first time (11-7). There are another two Christmas releases in the Top20 this week, as Pentatonix’ “A Pentatonix Christmas” returns to #20 while Ariana Grande’s “Christmas & Chill” EP comes back at #19 and even goes Gold this week. Surprisingly, Sia’s “Everyday Is Christmas” has to leave the charts.

There’s just one new entry on the charts for yet another week, but unlike the past week, it was one with a quite big impression this time. Romanian dance-pop-queen Inna has already released her new album called “Nirvana”, which arrives at #2 as her fifth entry on the album charts, following “I Am The Club Rocker” (2011), “Party Never Ends” (2013), “Body And The Sun” (2015) and “Inna” (2015). All of them debuted at number two, with “Party Never Ends” peaking atop the charts a week after its arrival. “I Am The Club Rocker” and “Inna” even went Platinum, with the other two being certified with Gold, so the singer really showed some consistency over the years.

The rest of the best: The Dark Element’s “The Dark Element” dips 2-3, Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” is down 4-5, followed by Halsey’s “hopeless fountain kingdom”, which stays at #6 for another week. Rachel Platten’s “Waves” descends 7-8, Evanescence’ “Synthesis” remains at #9 while Paloma Faith enters the Top10 for the first time with “The Architect”, as the set is rising 14-10.

Loreen’s “Ride” (5-12), Chris Stapleton’s “From A Room, Vol. 2” (8-13) and Marina Kaye’s “Explicit” (10-14) all leave the upper half. Meanwhile, there’s also another re-entry apart from the Christmas records, as Vanessa Mai’s second solo album “Regenbogen” comes back at #17 following the success on the Singles Top40 with its title track.

I am glad to see Tarja being so successful this week! Another #1 is massive, the album is holding on well & I love her new certifications. It's a pity "O Tannenbaum" didn't reach the top of your chart, though. I love it <3 - I hope she re-releases the album on day and includes more German songs on it The eerie arrangement and her impressive vocals fit perfectly!

The other Symphonic Metal girls are doing quite well on your chart as well! And I love your new avatar (even though, I have to admit, I didn't buy any of "My Indigo" tracks. I think I will wait for the album (to be reduced). The first two songs aren't my cup of tea (even though they are not bad).

Mainshow wrote:I am glad to see Tarja being so successful this week! Another #1 is massive, the album is holding on well & I love her new certifications. It's a pity "O Tannenbaum" didn't reach the top of your chart, though. I love it <3 - I hope she re-releases the album on day and includes more German songs on it The eerie arrangement and her impressive vocals fit perfectly!

The other Symphonic Metal girls are doing quite well on your chart as well! And I love your new avatar (even though, I have to admit, I didn't buy any of "My Indigo" tracks. I think I will wait for the album (to be reduced). The first two songs aren't my cup of tea (even though they are not bad).

Loreen's album is quite flopping. I think it won't make it til 2018

Glad (but obviously not surprised ) to see you liking Tarja's success here! "O Tannenbaum" didn't impress me at first, actually not at all, however it really grew on me and now it's definitely one of the better songs on "From Spirits And Ghosts". But i still think there would have been much better Singles choices, same applies for "Feliz Navidad". Tarja singing in German is really cool, would love to hear more as well

Definitely! 2017 has been a great year for symphonic metal, and 2018 seems to become even better with Nightwish releasing their "Decades", Sharon releasing her solo debut and WT releasing as well And here's hope we will get something by Tarja as well (apart from "Act II"). I cross my fingers that the 'My Indigo' tracks will grow on you; especially "Out Of The Darkness" is so beautiful.

Haha... she most likely won't even make it til Christmas... The ' ' in your comment is quite funny xD

SummerPeur wrote:

1 (NEW) Tarja – Feliz NavidadChart Run: *1*- / 1w

Checked this out! Sitting on the fence ATM. Would there be any other songs of this artist you would recommend at all?!

Well, she usually doing symphonic metal Music, so i'm not really sure if you like her... "Innocence" is one of her most recent singles and would give you a better picture about what music she's usually doing

Don't know if I've mentioned this before. But at first I was not the biggest fan of this at all, but now I really enjoy it

Glad to hear this - and it was the same with me! At first i was disappointed by "I Miss You", especially after loving "Rockaybe", "Symphony" and "Disconnect", but now i really enjoy it as well, and i think i even like it more than "Rockabye" and probably even more than "Disconnect" as well

Tansike wrote:Well, since I skipped them, I can’t really judge. Okay, I played the re-issue, and from what I remember I actually enjoyed it more than I thought. There’s something like a battle tree (?) at the end iirc and I loved that. But apart from that, I barely remember something about that Generation, not even many Pokémon. I only remember which starter I had and that my favorite Pokémon was Sawsbuck… But to come back to what you said, I completely get you with being connected to the team or not and how it affects the journey.

Hmm… Kalos definitely has some nice places to offer, especially the autumnal routes you mentioned, but other than that, I never liked it that much, especially the cities… Alola is sooo much better. I enjoy these small routes and that island vibe, however I wouldn’t mind if we’ll be back to an usual world in the next game, with all the varieties.

Oh no, sorry, It wasn’t meant that way. Also sorry if my comment seemed kinda aggressive or so, reading it now it could have sound a bit nicer That may be true, however, I just realized that I’m not feeling it as much as I used to do, and I don’t even mean USUM, but Pokémon overall. I played a little bit yesterday and lost the interest after less than 30 minutes, so no surprise I’m not faster playing it. But that already happened to S/M and to Pokémon Tekken as well. How many hours have you already played USUM? A new content would have been awesome. Something like a new island or so.

Ah, the White Treehollow/Weiße Baumhöhle! That was a pretty great concept for more challenging post-game battles that still award EXP too (unlike the Battle Maison or Battle Tree.) On that note, B2W2 seem like the last games where most fans were genuinely pleased with the variety of post-game material. Sawsbuck is a quality choice - I love the look of most of its seasonal forms! Shame that it wasn't included in the Kalos or Alola Dexes (though I wonder if that's because its seasonal gimmick wouldn't work anymore...)

Aw, I really liked a lot of the cities in Kalos, and I was definitely bummed when I first learned that Alola didn't have any that felt as expansive as Lumiose or the re-designed Mauville in ORAS (though I get how a greater focus on nature/the wild is more fitting for Alola than having a bunch of sprawling cities. I do love Malie/Malihe, though!)

Ha, noooo worries! I don't think I've EVER seen you come across as aggressive here! Bummer that Pokémon (in general) hasn't felt as appealing for you lately, though. Maybe I should stop rambling about it so much in every one of my posts here Admittedly, as we grow older, the kid-friendly nature of the games can make it tougher to enjoy without imposing any extra rules/restrictions to increase the difficulty a bit during the main story. The games also feel more kid-FOCUSED than ever before, as opposed to just kid-friendly, with stuff like the Rotom Dex constantly offering really basic advice and talking to us like we're a little kid, NPCs emphasizing how our character is exactly 11 years old, adding the effectiveness of every attack right under the attack's name so we don't have to memorize the type chart, etc. That said, I've still put more than 80 hours into Ultra Sun already Some of that has gone into long SOS Battles, where I've been waiting for Pokémon to call an ally that's only available to catch that way, like Mareanie/Garstella and Goomy/Viscora. I've also spent at least a little time trying out most of the bonus features (like Mantine Surfing, the Alola Photo Club, my Festival Plaza rank is something like 36, I'm Grade 3 or 4 at the Battle Agency, etc.)

Tansike wrote:Thank you! These are my thoughts as well. Some people are like it’s sooo mature to be able to be friends with the exes, however I think it’s also mature when you can say that it simply wouldn’t work for one or both of you. Thanks, sweet of you <3 and don’t worry, there are no plans of doing so, and it wouldn’t be worth it

**Nod** Absolutely. The idea of forcing an awkward/uncomfortable friendship just for the sake of demonstrating your maturity doesn't seem that mature at all, really Recognizing the realities of the situation and proceeding accordingly makes much more sense.

Tansike wrote:Oh I forgot you didn’t listen to it for so long Good for you, I guess… I still remember the first time I heard it I was like because of the beat. I’m still baffled how messy her era started, I mean, it’s Taylor. Anyways, glad you like my vision for the rest of the era. The more time passes by, the less fan I am of “End Game” being the next single, so here’s hope the follow-up will be a better choice.

Ha, yeah, though I think the fact that the beat is so jarring (and that she's basically rapping in the verses) makes it kind of a perfect opener for the album - letting us know right away that this isn't 1989 anymore!

Aw, maybe the "End Game" video could finally help improve your opinion at least a bit...? Well, unless they just quickly move onto something else again It fell from No. 39 -> No. 49 on the latest Hot 100, and it's currently No. 46 on US iTunes, so who knows. Some of that's due to holiday songs seeing gains, but still...

Tansike wrote:Good for Dua (but unlucky for others, I guess?). Are there still many albums left you’d like to check out?

Oh, for sure - I think that's a "to do" list where I'll never feel TRULY caught up. I've been focusing on Charli's Pop 2 lately, but there's still Beautiful Trauma (which I've heard most of at least once, between Jake's chart and my bf playing it, but still haven't actually added it to my Library), Little Mix's Get Weird, more of Mabel's material, Wildfire, a lot of K-Pop acts whose singles I've liked but I never dove into their full albums...

Tansike wrote:I mean, WOW! I’m like you, I thought this would flop because it wasn’t one of my faves on the album, but I’m sooo glad it went into the Top10 (and it also grew on me in the meantime). Now all I want is “Strangers” to be the next single and another hit for her, then I’m sooo happy (well, would have been happier with one or two Grammy nods but one can’t have everything I guess )

Did she not get a SINGLE Grammy nomination? I thought she had a better standing with critics (but maybe that was more true for Badlands than Hopeless Fountain Kingdom...?)

Tansike wrote:You’re welcome, and as you know, I love doing researches like this as well, always very interesting to find things out about my own charts I wasn’t aware of. It is kinda funny how every year a Christmas track had to stop at #2. I think this year is already the first year ever with a Christmas song reaching the top spot (Tarja’s “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and Lindsey’s “Carol Of The Bells”), but the competition was often so incredibly strong (WT being my 2nd most favorite band ever, Kerli my absolute fave artist, Taylor’s IKYWT being simply awesome, Jamie-Lee being the winner of The Voice of Germany as my absolute fave on the show). So, it will be interesting to see if an actual Christmas track makes it to #1 during Christmas week as well. The chances are really big, as you say, with especially Tarja and Lindsey Stirling. Gwen could be a dark horse though…

Yeah, it makes sense how a lot of those No. 1's from prior Decembers were significant enough to over-shadow even Christmas songs at Christmastime. I'm definitely curious/excited to watch the outcome of this year's holiday chart battle, though!

Tansike wrote:Nope And, well, there was a time when I knew EVERYTHING that’s in the charts, not only in Switzerland, but basically in all major countries with official charts. But the music in the charts has been kinda bad lately, so I checked them out much less. I think it’s definitely not too bad missing out “Despacito” and “Rockstar” in full, and I’m not a big fan of Queen B while I love the original “Perfect”, so that’s fine to me

Hmmm...so you're not as into Pokémon anymore...and not as into official charts anymore...is this all because you've really turned over a new leaf with this new partner? Or has smoking become your No. 1 hobby instead?

Tansike wrote:Why would I want to say no there when I love to do that? Here it is, but attention, huge spoiler alert, as the new charts from tomorrow is already added.Unfortunately, not that much to show so far… I’m surprised by myself how “New York” never made my charts back in the days as I really liked it then.

A huge GLORIOUS spoiler (especially when I was just pleased to see it debut here at all) Her first Top 20 since "Trouble With My Baby" back in 2014!

Tansike wrote:A new peak for “Reputation” is very unlikely at the moment, but it’s holding on much better than “1989” did in its first few weeks (1-2-6-10-14-)

Ah, damn, the initial excitement of 1989 wore off pretty quickly! So 1989 only spent two of its first five weeks inside your Top 5, whereas reputation has spent twice that many!

• Of all the Christmas classics out there, I did NOT expect Tarja to tackle "Feliz Navidad." She REALLY makes it her own! • Although it's not quite one of my top-favorites on Pop 2 (that's between "Backseat" and "Femmebot" so far, with "Track 10" not TOO far behind), I definitely love that "got me doin' all this stupid sh*t, you f*cked me up like this, secretly I'm kind of into it, though..." part of "Out Of My Head." • Lovin' the fairly-slow descent of "Perfect For You" It looks like it'll at least come close to (if not surpass) the longevity of "Broken Glass." • Camila's set the bar pretty high for herself with the success of "Havana", and I really can't see "Never Be The Same" coming anywhere close Granted, I never expected "Bad At Love" to come anywhere close to "Now Or Never", so...

phoenix98 wrote:Ah, the White Treehollow/Weiße Baumhöhle! That was a pretty great concept for more challenging post-game battles that still award EXP too (unlike the Battle Maison or Battle Tree.) On that note, B2W2 seem like the last games where most fans were genuinely pleased with the variety of post-game material. Sawsbuck is a quality choice - I love the look of most of its seasonal forms! Shame that it wasn't included in the Kalos or Alola Dexes (though I wonder if that's because its seasonal gimmick wouldn't work anymore...)

Aw, I really liked a lot of the cities in Kalos, and I was definitely bummed when I first learned that Alola didn't have any that felt as expansive as Lumiose or the re-designed Mauville in ORAS (though I get how a greater focus on nature/the wild is more fitting for Alola than having a bunch of sprawling cities. I do love Malie/Malihe, though!)

Ha, noooo worries! I don't think I've EVER seen you come across as aggressive here! Bummer that Pokémon (in general) hasn't felt as appealing for you lately, though. Maybe I should stop rambling about it so much in every one of my posts here Admittedly, as we grow older, the kid-friendly nature of the games can make it tougher to enjoy without imposing any extra rules/restrictions to increase the difficulty a bit during the main story. The games also feel more kid-FOCUSED than ever before, as opposed to just kid-friendly, with stuff like the Rotom Dex constantly offering really basic advice and talking to us like we're a little kid, NPCs emphasizing how our character is exactly 11 years old, adding the effectiveness of every attack right under the attack's name so we don't have to memorize the type chart, etc. That said, I've still put more than 80 hours into Ultra Sun already Some of that has gone into long SOS Battles, where I've been waiting for Pokémon to call an ally that's only available to catch that way, like Mareanie/Garstella and Goomy/Viscora. I've also spent at least a little time trying out most of the bonus features (like Mantine Surfing, the Alola Photo Club, my Festival Plaza rank is something like 36, I'm Grade 3 or 4 at the Battle Agency, etc.)

Ah yeah, the White Treehollow! That’s why I really enjoyed it, there hasn’t been something as cool as this after the main stories in a long time IMO. Agree about Sawsbuck, plus I thought it’s cute as well And it was a nice addition, as I’m usually adding lots of Plant types to my Team as these are usually my faves. Well, I think it would have been possible to still work with its seasonal forms. For example where you are able to catch Alolan Sandan or Vulpix, it could have been the Winter form. On the flower fields it could have been the Spring form and so on.

I NEVER got into Lumiose to be honest I always thought it’s actually too big and chaotic. But so you enjoyed that city?

Good to hear that Oh no, please don’t stop, because I really enjoy talking with you about Pokémon, and that’s actually also one of the things which keeps my interest on a higher basis than it usually would be Hmm I didn’t even look at it like that, but you’re right, it’s actually more kid-friendly than earlier. I still remember how difficult Red/Blue was because you had to find out everything by yourself. There were no descriptions for your moves, you just tried them out. Ah… good old times <3WOW – 80 hours already?!?! NOT bad at all! So you’re really into it at the moment, are you?

phoenix98 wrote:**Nod** Absolutely. The idea of forcing an awkward/uncomfortable friendship just for the sake of demonstrating your maturity doesn't seem that mature at all, really Recognizing the realities of the situation and proceeding accordingly makes much more sense.

Definitely!

phoenix98 wrote:Ha, yeah, though I think the fact that the beat is so jarring (and that she's basically rapping in the verses) makes it kind of a perfect opener for the album - letting us know right away that this isn't 1989 anymore!

Aw, maybe the "End Game" video could finally help improve your opinion at least a bit...? Well, unless they just quickly move onto something else again It fell from No. 39 -> No. 49 on the latest Hot 100, and it's currently No. 46 on US iTunes, so who knows. Some of that's due to holiday songs seeing gains, but still...

True

Who knows. I adore the LWYMMD vid, but the RFI vid was very disappointing, and I’m afraid it may be the same for “End Game”. We’ll find out soon, I guess. I’m also not sure if this really becomes the hit they (and some people) are expecting. I know it has Ed on it, but still…

phoenix98 wrote:Oh, for sure - I think that's a "to do" list where I'll never feel TRULY caught up. I've been focusing on Charli's Pop 2 lately, but there's still Beautiful Trauma (which I've heard most of at least once, between Jake's chart and my bf playing it, but still haven't actually added it to my Library), Little Mix's Get Weird, more of Mabel's material, Wildfire, a lot of K-Pop acts whose singles I've liked but I never dove into their full albums...

Oh I know that ‘do do’ list P!nk would be an amazing one, but Charli XCX for a current one is good too. So you never heard “Get Weird” in full? Hmm… are these K-Pop albums even on Apple Music? I already searched for some J-Pop artists in the past few months but they’re never available

phoenix98 wrote: Did she not get a SINGLE Grammy nomination? I thought she had a better standing with critics (but maybe that was more true for Badlands than Hopeless Fountain Kingdom...?)

Yep, not a single nomination Not even in the Pop categories. But hey, at least she delivered musically IMO, but I would have LOVED some noms for her. As for the critics, “hopeless fountain kingdom” has good critics, but not outstanding ones. It’s at 66 on Metacritic (out of 100).

phoenix98 wrote:Yeah, it makes sense how a lot of those No. 1's from prior Decembers were significant enough to over-shadow even Christmas songs at Christmastime. I'm definitely curious/excited to watch the outcome of this year's holiday chart battle, though!

This years Christmas week is coming soon!

phoenix98 wrote:Hmmm...so you're not as into Pokémon anymore...and not as into official charts anymore...is this all because you've really turned over a new leaf with this new partner? Or has smoking become your No. 1 hobby instead?

Oh no, it’s been that way with Pokémon for a while now, and charts well it just happened. I think it was already that way before meeting my partner. Also, smoking is more like my No. 1 bad habit

phoenix98 wrote:A huge GLORIOUS spoiler (especially when I was just pleased to see it debut here at all) Her first Top 20 since "Trouble With My Baby" back in 2014!

Yes! “Guilty” is doing well for her, and is helping the album as well. Will be interesting to see if she’s rising even further in the new year or if she’s going down due to new releases (there are usually many new songs early in the year which debut on my charts).

phoenix98 wrote:Ah, damn, the initial excitement of 1989 wore off pretty quickly! So 1989 only spent two of its first five weeks inside your Top 5, whereas reputation has spent twice that many!

I have to admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of “1989” at first, but it eventually grew on me and then it showed some amazing longevity, as it stayed 48 weeks in the Top20. So, while “Reputation” has a (much) better start, it’s yet to see which one will be more successful in the end. I think “Reputation” won’t have the same longevity, except if she releases “Delicate” or even “Don’t Blame Me” as singles.

phoenix98 wrote:• Of all the Christmas classics out there, I did NOT expect Tarja to tackle "Feliz Navidad." She REALLY makes it her own! • Although it's not quite one of my top-favorites on Pop 2 (that's between "Backseat" and "Femmebot" so far, with "Track 10" not TOO far behind), I definitely love that "got me doin' all this stupid sh*t, you f*cked me up like this, secretly I'm kind of into it, though..." part of "Out Of My Head." • Lovin' the fairly-slow descent of "Perfect For You" It looks like it'll at least come close to (if not surpass) the longevity of "Broken Glass." • Camila's set the bar pretty high for herself with the success of "Havana", and I really can't see "Never Be The Same" coming anywhere close Granted, I never expected "Bad At Love" to come anywhere close to "Now Or Never", so...

¡Otra chart excelente, Tansike!

Yeah, she did a nice version of it. Unfortunately, “Feliz Navidad” is far from being one of the Christmas classics I enjoy, but the hype around the video release and the release of a Charity version (with many other singers from that genre I adore) made it possible to debut at #1…

Glad you enjoy a part of “Out Of My Head” that much For me it’s actually my favorite on “Pop 2”

Rachel really had an amazing 2017 as both “Broken Glass” and “Perfect For You” are her two most successful singles and also longest charting tracks every on my charts. Here’s hope she may release at least another uptempo track of “Waves” in 2018.

Ha true. We’ll see what happens with this, but I still think “Havana” was just a lucky shot. btw, “Havana” was so underrated on my charts. It only spent one week at #30 and left the Top40 after two weeks

After having two Christmas songs being atop the charts for two weeks in a row with “Carol Of The Bells” by Lindsey Stirling and “Feliz Navidad” by Tarja, actually none of these and also no other Christmas song can spend this week atop the Singles Top40, as someone else released something new which immediately became an obvious number one. The artist I am talking about is Within Temptation frontwoman Sharon Den Adel, or ‘My Indigo’ as her solo project is named. The singer has revealed the tracklist, release date and cover art of her solo debut album, which will be out in April next year, and alongside the announcement she also released the second song “Out Of The Darkness”, which does what the lead track “My Indigo” couldn’t do – it immediately debuts at number one. With over 70 plays since Friday, it’s already about to match the total plays of the first single “My Indigo”, which slips 10-11 in its sixth charting week and leaves the Top10 for its first time.

The rest of the Top10: Lindsey Stirling still owns three entries in the Top10 with the Christmas tunes “Carol Of The Bells” (2-2), “Christmas C’mon” (3-3) and “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” (5-6), while Tarja still has one with “Feliz Navidad” (1-4). Inna’s “Nirvana” dips one spot (4-5), just like “The Ghost And The Reaper” by The Dark Element (6-7) and “Regenbogen” by Vanessa Mai (7-8) do. Noah Cyrus and XXXTENTACION once more come back into the Top10 with “Again” (11-9), while Christmas and other events are pushing Pentatonix’ “Hallelujah” a lot and make it nearly re-peak (39-10).

There are only three more new arrivals in the Top40 this week, and two of them are even at the bottom of the charts. It’s more impressive to see another six re-entries, as some Christmas tracks are back while some of this years big songs are also able to climb back onto the chart. The second highest debut goes to Anne-Marie, who scores her second Top20 hit as a lead with “Then” (#15). Another arrival is something more shocking, as it’s the comeback single of Lily Allen, which makes a hugely disappointing debut at #34. The song is called “Trigger Bang”, and features Giggs, who scores his very first entry ever with that song, while it’s already Lily’s 11th chart hit. The shocking thing about this debut however is that none of Lily’s previous entries missed the Top10, with her last lead single “Hard Out Here” even debuting right at the top spot in very early 2014. While half of the re-entries are Christmas tracks, the other half are big songs of the year, with “Spirit Animal” by Kerli being back at #32, “Bad Liar” by Selena Gomez re-entering at #36 and “Now Or Never” by Halsey making a comeback at #37. Other big songs, such as “Praying” by Kesha (35-31) and “Symphony” by Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson (37-35) are also climbing a little bit.

Now time to look at the tunes of the season: The Christmas entries! Out of the new entries, Sia’s “Santa’s Coming For Us” is the only Christmas tune, as it arrives at #33 as her first chart entry from the album “Everyday Is Christmas”. When it comes to re-entries, Mariah Carey has the highest, as her never-dying Christmas classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” re-enters the charts at #28. The song, which seems to get bigger with each season lately, made its very first appearance on my charts a year ago, when it peaked at #2 around Christmas, only to disappear straight after until now. Ariana Grande’s “Love Is Everything”, which is a Christmas staple on My Charts, is nearly right behind Mariah at #30. Lindsey Stirling’s “Hallelujah” climbs back as well, though just barely (#40). Two of the already charting Christmas tracks improve this week: “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” by Gwen Stefani rises 28-13 and Ariana Grande jumps 38-25 with “Santa Tell Me”, while Tarja’s “O Tannenbaum” dips 12-14 with her “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” going down 15-18. That brings the total of Christmas tunes in the Top40 to 12.

Similar to last week, there are also several new certifications on this weeks chart, with two singles and four albums getting an update. Clean Bandit and Julia Michael’s “I Miss You” may leave the Top10 this week (8-16), but the track goes Gold, which is the first certification for Julia, and already the fourth in a row for Clean Bandit. The second new certification goes to “My Sweet Mystery” by The Dark Element, which becomes the bands first Platinum certified entry (23-21).

Pentatonix’ “Hallelujah” is the biggest climber while The Dark Element’s “Dead To Me” (16-27) and Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” (27-38) both share the title as the biggest loser of the week.

It’s Christmas week and while the Singles Top40 is reigned by a non-Christmas song after having a Christmas track topping the charts for the two previous weeks, it’s the exact same on the Album Top20, as Lindsey Stirling’s “Warmer In The Winter” is no longer atop the charts after having spent the past two weeks there. New on top is Inna, who rises 2-1 in the second week for “Nirvana”, which becomes her second number one album now. Lindsey’s “Warmer In The Winter” slips 1-2, followed by Gwen Stefani’s “You Make It Feel Like Christmas”, which rises 7-3. And while this may be the Christmas week, next week will most likely have the biggest Christmas boost, so it will be interesting to see who will top next weeks chart.

Two debuts and two re-entries are in the Top20, with the new arrivals being in the Top10 and the re-entries in the lower region. Charli XCX has released a new mixtape called “Pop 2”. It enters the charts at #4 as her fourth album to make a debut, with all of them peaking in the Top10, however none of them showed enough longevity to really become successful so far. South Korean pop star Taeyeon has released her Christmas album “This Christmas – Winter Is Coming” in the last minute and arrives at #7. It’s her second entry this year following the surprise success that was “My Voice – The 1st Album” (#4, 7 weeks on the chart).

The rest of the best: The Dark Element’s self-titled album goes down 3-5 and gets certified with Gold, Tarja’s “From Spirits And Ghosts” falls 4-6, Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” decreases 5-8 while Pentatonix’ “A Pentatonix Christmas” has a big boost and jumps 20-10. There’s one last entry in the upper half, and that’s Halsey’s “hopeless fountain kingdom”. The set dips 6-9 in its 29th week, and gets certified with 2x Platinum, which is quite rare these days.

Speaking about certifications, there are another two new ones. Ariana Grande’s “Christmas & Chill” EP just went Gold a week ago and rises 19-14 this week, and now it’s her “Christmas Kisses” EP which goes Platinum due to its re-entry at #17. Having made a re-entry as well just a week ago was “Regenbogen” by Vanessa Mai, which climbs a little this week (17-15) and becomes her first certified album ever by going Gold. Rachel Platten’s “Waves” (8-11), Paloma Faith’s “The Architect” (10-12) and Evanescence’ “Synthesis” (9-13) all leave the upper half. Last but not least, the two mentioned re-entries are both Christmas releases, with Sia’s “Everyday Is Christmas” coming back to #16 and the other being the already mentioned “Christmas Kisses” EP by Ariana Grande.

Tansike wrote:Ah yeah, the White Treehollow! That’s why I really enjoyed it, there hasn’t been something as cool as this after the main stories in a long time IMO. Agree about Sawsbuck, plus I thought it’s cute as well And it was a nice addition, as I’m usually adding lots of Plant types to my Team as these are usually my faves. Well, I think it would have been possible to still work with its seasonal forms. For example where you are able to catch Alolan Sandan or Vulpix, it could have been the Winter form. On the flower fields it could have been the Spring form and so on.

I NEVER got into Lumiose to be honest I always thought it’s actually too big and chaotic. But so you enjoyed that city?

Good to hear that Oh no, please don’t stop, because I really enjoy talking with you about Pokémon, and that’s actually also one of the things which keeps my interest on a higher basis than it usually would be Hmm I didn’t even look at it like that, but you’re right, it’s actually more kid-friendly than earlier. I still remember how difficult Red/Blue was because you had to find out everything by yourself. There were no descriptions for your moves, you just tried them out. Ah… good old times <3

WOW – 80 hours already?!?! NOT bad at all! So you’re really into it at the moment, are you?

Yeah - it's disappointing enough that they don't believe in doing full Battle Frontiers anymore, but it's really a shame they stopped adding any kind of more-creative post-game battling options like the Treehollow, Pokémon World Tournament, etc. The Battle Agency is something, at least - but it doesn't offer anything new, since it's essentially the same as the old Battle Factory. Ah, I'd forgotten about your affinity for Plant/Grass-types! Have you added any to your current team other than Rowlet? Even though she was only a seventh/rotational member, I enjoyed trying out Tsareena/Fruyal - she's got a massive attack stat, and she can fully evolve as early as Lv. 29. Also - that makes PERFECT sense for Sawsbuck! It could work like those Pokémon that evolve in certain areas (like Nosepass/Nasgnet into Probopass/Voluminas), or something like Oricorio's/Choreogel's nectar - with each of the four islands allowing it to become a different seasonal form. That's a big missed opportunity, actually...

I did! The camera angle can get a little frustrating sometimes, but I love that the Pokémon World finally has a city large enough where you can get legitimately lost With so many streets, alleys, plazas, shops, and cafés, it feels like you're actually exploring a major metropolis (especially compared to previous "big" cities like Goldenrod/Dukatia, Jubilife/Jubelstadt, or even Castelia/Stratos.)

Ha, that's SO true about moves back in the day! You couldn't even see a move's base power in-game until Gen II...

Ha, I really am! Granted, I don't really play any other video games (well, except for Pokémon Go when I'm out-and-about), so any "video game time" = "Pokémon time" for me I just passed Hapu's Grand Trial, so I'm very close to the end of the main story now...

Tansike wrote:Definitely!

Did you two speak/connect at all for Christmas? Not that you should have or needed to or anything - it just seems like a time when people from your past often pop up/reach out. Sentimental occasion, I guess. Granted, I'm not sure if he really celebrates at all anyway...

Tansike wrote:Oh I know that ‘do do’ list P!nk would be an amazing one, but Charli XCX for a current one is good too. So you never heard “Get Weird” in full? Hmm… are these K-Pop albums even on Apple Music? I already searched for some J-Pop artists in the past few months but they’re never available

I haven't...which doesn't really make sense, since I liked all four singles I think my reluctance to pick up Get Weird had at least a little to do with the fact that I was pretty underwhelmed by DNA. Now that Glory Days has shown me that I can really enjoy a full album of theirs, there's really no excuse!

Really? That sucks Apple Music has recommended/directed me to at least a few full K-Pop albums, but I haven't tried actively seeking out any J-Pop albums yet. If what you're saying is true, that's a HUGE omission!

Tansike wrote:Oh no, it’s been that way with Pokémon for a while now, and charts well it just happened. I think it was already that way before meeting my partner. Also, smoking is more like my No. 1 bad habit

Might that factor into your 2018 New Year's Resolutions...? NoOoOo pressure, of course!

Tansike wrote:Yes! “Guilty” is doing well for her, and is helping the album as well. Will be interesting to see if she’s rising even further in the new year or if she’s going down due to new releases (there are usually many new songs early in the year which debut on my charts).

Ah, right - The Architect is ANOTHER one to add to that "to do" list of mine I actually didn't add any new albums this past week, though, since I've had Christmas music and 2017 highlights on the brain...

Tansike wrote:I have to admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of “1989” at first, but it eventually grew on me and then it showed some amazing longevity, as it stayed 48 weeks in the Top20. So, while “Reputation” has a (much) better start, it’s yet to see which one will be more successful in the end. I think “Reputation” won’t have the same longevity, except if she releases “Delicate” or even “Don’t Blame Me” as singles.

Admittedly, I haven't been tracking your album chart quite as closely, but that sounds like a MASSIVE achievement Nearly a full YEAR! Do you know the records for weeks inside the album Top 20?

Tansike wrote:Ha true. We’ll see what happens with this, but I still think “Havana” was just a lucky shot. btw, “Havana” was so underrated on my charts. It only spent one week at #30 and left the Top40 after two weeks

I'd forgotten that it made such a minor impact here! Granted, I guess that brief appearance kind of explains WHY I've forgotten...

• True to Tansike tradition, a non-holiday song wound up on top after all (even with plenty of competition inside your Top 5) Your new No. 1 is a really lovely song, though! The lyrics might not have anything to do with Christmas, but it still has a very pretty wintry sound/feel to it.• Glad to see "Guilty" still climbing - and now it matched the peak of "Can't Rely On You." • After my comment about "Out Of My Head" being "good-but-not-one-of-the-best", I kept playing it quite a bit and it turned out to be the second-highest-debut from Pop 2. • Looks like "...Ready For It?" could end up matching the longevity of LWYMMD...• For not being around all that long/only having three "regular" albums, Ari's served up quite a few quality Christmas tunes (and covers too), with "Santa Tell Me" being a strong contender for my favorite of the bunch (though her twist on "Last Christmas" really grew on me.) I'm pretty sure you're the reason I checked out Christmas & Chill last year, so thanks again for encouraging that!• Speaking of Christmas classics, I'm obviously lovin' that re-entry for AIWFCIY The fact that it finally earned that (MUCH-deserved) Top 10 status on the Hot 100 after 23 years was a true Christmas miracle! • Must be the year-end-effect for "Spirit Animal", "Bad Liar", and "Now Or Never"?

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas (and have an equally awesome New Year's), Tansike!

I have stopped checking out new songs for this year so I can't comment on a lot of the new entries, but "Out of the Darkness" had already made it into my database (due to "My Indigo" being a hit) and that one is really good! Yeah, I know Sharen den Adel from Within Temptation, immediately recognized her name when I first saw "My Indigo" on your chart, although maybe I wouldn't have immdiately recognized her voice if I had listened before I knew it was her. Definitely going to listen to the album (April feels quite far away though).

I like that it's not a Christmas song that is #1 this week, although the oppsite happened on mine (where Christmas songs rarely have had success in the past).

Have you considered starting a new thread for your chart for 2018 onwards? I've noticed that this one (I assume due to the huge number of pages) loads much slower than other threads on UKMix, which can often be a bit annoying.